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Odisha Part 11: Discovering the Jaina Heritage of Odisha at the caves of Udaygiri and Khandgiri

The Hindu and Buddhist history of Odisha , or rather, ancient Kalinga, is rather well known to everyone. Who hasn’t heard of the grand temples of Odisha – Puri, Lingaraj and Konark, or the great war of Kalinga which inspired Ashoka to convert to Buddhism? In contrast, very few know of the Jaina heritage of this region. This is quite a pity, since, just around 7 km from the city, is one of India’s most ancient inscriptions, which throws light on the Jaina heritage of Odisha. This inscription is the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela, in the hills of Udaygiri. Udaygiri and Khandgiri are two hills located opposite each other, and both are testaments to the rich Jaina heritage of Odisha. The caves at Udaygiri are older, while Khandgiri is relatively newer, but has lasted much longer, and continues to be a place of pilgrimage for Jains even today. These hills, from inscriptions and excavations of caves, shrines and rock beds, appear to have been a haven for Jaina monks, right from the ...
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Brahminy Starling

It looked just like a myna from a distance. However, there was something different about it. It took some time for me to realise that we were seeing a Brahminy Myna or Brahminy Starling.






It has a sort of a crest and black cap which distinguishes it from our usual myna. Besides, the bill is yellow with a bluish base, which also makes it look different. In fact, once we saw these a couple of times, I began wondering how I had mistaken it for the common myna in the first place!!!










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  1. Bhavesh ChhatbarAugust 5, 2011 at 5:58 PM

    You reminded me of my visit to Chaitanya Dham [AKA Prati Pandharpur] where I saw Brahminy Starling parents. If you remember, I published the photos on my blog [see Brahminy
    Starling]. You asked where the place is. Did you manage to go there? It's beautiful!

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  2. Anu ShankarAugust 5, 2011 at 7:29 PM

    No, Bhavesh! have yet to make that long delayed trip to Pune and around ! the time doesnt seem to come!!! I remember seeing your Brahminy starling pics! they are certainly much better than mine :)

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